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Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Desolate North is the debut studio album by the funeral doom metal band Celestiial, released by Bindrune Recordings in 2006. It comprised the five tracks from Celestiial's demo, Ashen, combined with three more tracks recorded separately. It was written and performed entirely by Tanner Anderson, the sole member of Celestiial, and was never written to be an album or to be performed.

The recording of the album was also done entirely by Anderson, and was done in three parts. Firstly, the material for Ashen was recorded at the rehearsal space he shared with the black metal band Azrael, then the three extra tracks were recorded at the same place, and then the hard pieces were recorded at Anderson's home.

The album received mixed reviews—some critics claimed it was fresh and a new sound, while others argued it was very similar to music already available. The music itself has been described as extremely slow, with various woodland sounds, such as running water and footsteps. Many people have drawn a comparison to dark ambient through sound, and black metal through imagery.